Happy Chilloween, Taylor
by bean21
Summary: In her mind she was far away and seeing things that happened exactly a year ago. "Well," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek, "happy Chilloween to me, I guess."


Happy Chilloween, Taylor

Taylor was sitting in her backyard, slowly twirling a blade of grass back and forth between her thumb and forefinger. She was looking at the small, twirling blade, but she didn't really see it. In her mind she was far away and seeing things that happened exactly a year ago.

"Well," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek, "happy Chilloween to me, I guess."

Wiping away the tear and dropping the blade of grass she stood up to go inside, watching as the sun dipped behind the horizon. Right before she stepped inside she heard a loud thud in the bushes behind her and a muffled "ow!". Turning around slowly she looked at the bushes where she thought the sound had come from. She thought she saw the leaves move but couldn't tell in the growing darkness.

"Hello?" she called out timidly. "Is someone there?"

She took another scared step toward the bushes, unsure of what to do when she heard a soft knocking on the gate.

"Okaaaay, I'm a little creeped out," she said softly to herself as she walked toward the gate. The knocking continued until Taylor reluctantly opened the gate built into the fence surrounding her backyard.

"Jackson!"

Before Jackson could even say "hi" to Taylor she started talking so fast Jackson couldn't answer any of the questions she asked him.

"What're you doing here? Wow, it's good to see you! How have you been? Wait, why did you come through the side gate instead of my front door? And, what's with the torch? And why are you here so late? And-"

"Taylor!" Jackson interrupted with a little laugh. "Look, I think the best way to do this is just to say, well, Happy Chilloween, Taylor."

Taylor gasped but before she could respond Jackson nodded his head toward the yard behind her and as he did the entire yard suddenly lit up. She turned around and had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

In front of her stood all the other teens who had been in the plane crash, each of them holding a lit torch like the one Jackson was carrying. Abby, Ian, Jory, Melissa, and Eric stood smiling at her, Nathan had a _real _"feast" in his arms, and Daley and Lex were holding up a huge sign that said _Happy Chilloween_.

With tears in her eyes Taylor ran and hugged all of her compainions.

"Whose idea was this?" she asked, looking around at each of her friends.

They all smiled and together they said the last name she expected. "Daley."

"Daley?" Taylor asked softly, turning to face her.

Daley nodded her head. "I just figured out how long we were on the island, the date we crashed and the date of the day we were rescued. Lex helped me remember which day you thought of "Chilloween", so I figured out what the date would be. I thought we should celebrate it so I called everyone, I explained it to Abby and Ian and Jory, and everyone was willing to do it."

"But why?" Taylor asked softly. "Didn't you think it was a dumb idea?"

"Yeah, Taylor, I did," Daley answered with tears in her own eyes. "And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to celebrate it this year. Look, Taylor, a year ago you had a good thought. You knew we needed to have some fun. I thought you weren't taking things seriously enough and were just trying to get out of work. But I was wrong. And I was way too hard on you. Mostly, Taylor, I just want you to know how sorry I am."

Daley didn't know how Taylor would respond, but she definitely didn't think Taylor would actually step forward and hug her, but she did. Daley hugged back and knew she was forgiven.

"Uh, guys," Eric said, "I hate to interrupt or whatever, but I'm starving!"

Everyone laughed and Taylor and Daley wiped away their tears.

"Yeah, Taylor," Nathan said, holding up the food, "isn't a 'traditional feast' part of Chilloween?"

"Oh man you guys, you're the greatest!" Taylor exclaimed.

They all stuck their torches in the ground in a circle and sat inside it to eat. Nathan had done the feast again, getting two large pizzas for the main course but also some food that looked a little bit too familiar. There were oysters, fish, bananas, coconuts; practically all the foods they had eaten on the island.

Throughout the meal they all talked about the things that had happened to them on the island, both laughing and sometimes nearly crying.

During a pause in the conversation Taylor suddenly got a puzzled look on her face.

"How did you all get back here?" she asked suddenly.

Everyone laughed.

"We kinda climbed over your fence," Melissa said, laughing.

"We would've had more time, too," Lex added with a smile, "if Abby wouldn't have slipped and fell!"

"_That's _what I heard!" Taylor said triumphantly. "Good thing, too. I was afraid someone might be trying to rob me or something!"

"No worries about that," Abby said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I had to 'show up' before I was supposed to or you might have found eight teens stuck in your bushes for no apparent reason," Jackson joked.

Everyone laughed.

"Wait, what about my parents?" Taylor asked, looking puzzled again.

"We knew they'd be out of town," Nathan answered, "so we called them up, explained what we were planning and asked if it'd be ok. They said it would be fine."

They all finished up the meal and everyone thanked Nathan for getting it.

"Hey guys?" Abby said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for including us."

"Yeah, thanks a ton!" Jory added.

"Yeah guys, thanks," Ian agreed.

"No problem," Daley answered.

"Yeah, you guys are totally welcome anytime!" Nathan said.

"Way I see it," Jackson said softly, "you guys went through some of the same stuff as us and probably more. Ian, you told me once that we're all family here. I say you guys are part of it too."

Everyone nodded their agreement. With that Jackson stood up and rubbed his hands together.

"Well guys, we've had a great feast thanks to Nathan, now to keep with the true Chilloween spirit it's time to give gifts!"

Taylor's eyes got round. "But, I- I didn't know- I didn't get anything..."

"Taylor, we know," Lex said from where he was sitting next to her. "Don't worry about it. We knew you wouldn't have anything."

Even though Taylor looked sad she couldn't give anything she looked like she was really enjoying herself. Everyone else handed out their gifts to everyone, and all the gifts were handmade. Melissa had done sketches of the island for everyone, and Daley had made wristbands that said "I checked in and out of Hotel Tango". Everyone made something, and most of the gifts had to do with the island.

After the gifts had been given and the thank you's said Jackson stood up once again.

"Ok guys, I hope you've had as good a time tonight as I have. Unfortunately, Chilloween is about over. But I think we should do it again next year. It's not just a fun made up holiday when we get to eat the foods we all came to hate," everyone laughed softly, "and get gifts, even though it is that. Really, I think we should do it just to set aside a day to not only "chill" like this day was created for, but to have a time for all of us to get together so we never forget what we all went through and we never forget each other. What do you say?"

Everyone quickly voiced their agreement. Jackson held up his hand for quiet.

"So, let's all thank the creator of this day, Taylor!"

Jackson held out his hand to Taylor while everyone else clapped. Taking his hand she stood up and looked at everyone.

"Wow, guys, I don't know what to say, except, thank you. All of you. This means so much to me. So, thanks."

Daley smiled and stood up, meeting Taylor's eyes. "Happy Chilloween, Taylor."


End file.
